Güney’s citizenship on the agenda after Hikmet
Güncelleme Tarihi:
Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Ocak 08, 2009 00:00
ANKARA - Culture Minister Günay says, after restoring Nazım Hikmet’s citizenship, the government is ready to initiate a similar move for Turkish film director and actor Yılmaz Güney.
The Culture Ministry has done what should have been done years ago and will do everything necessary to correct issues that arise regardless of ideological affiliations, said Culture Minister Ertuğrul Günay.
Günay was referring to the ministry’s and government’s efforts to restore world-renowned communist poet Nazım Hikmet’s citizenship and to questions from press as to whether the government planned to initiate a similar move for Turkish film director and actor, Yılmaz Güney.
"We are ready to embrace every color Turkey has brought to life. There are very rare people like [Nazım] who contribute to the promotion of Turkey in the world. We demonstrated our country’s determination for democracy through the move. We will do the same on other issues as well. We will not refrain from doing anything to correct past moves considered to be unjust, disregarding [people’s] ideological tendencies," Günay said.
After escaping from prison in 1981, Güney settled in France and his Turkish citizenship was taken from him in 1983 when he resisted a return to Turkey. He was buried in France.
Günay was speaking at a press conference yesterday to promote the details of the ministry’s bidding process for managing commercial activities of ministry-run museums and historical places across the country.
Target to establish point of sales at 56 museums
Günay said their target was to increase the point of sales currently available at only nine museums and historical places to the total number of overall museums and historical places across Turkey, 56.
"This bidding process is thus of great importance. It is not a project that is solely aimed at increasing revenue, but increasing the quality of services and products provided at points of sales in our museums and at historical places," he said.
In 2008, some 22.6 million people visited museums and historical places, representing an increase of 26 percent compared to the previous year, but revenue from commercial activities remained considerably low despite the increase in visitor numbers, the ministry said. The ministry aims to both increase the revenue and promote the cultural capacity and potential of the museums through the bid.
The existing points of sales in museums and historical places will be renewed; new points of sales will be established; more quality products and services will be provided; the sale, production and consumption of traditional Turkish products, such as traditional handicrafts, Turkish delight, coffee and replicas of museum items, will be promoted through new products and designs as part of the project. It will also be possible to sell products over the Internet.
"The products will be marketed to a broader audience and there will be more employment opportunities," Günay said. "We want these locations to become more frequently visited places. We want to encourage people to visit museums and historical places instead of going to shopping malls."
Points of sales are planned for Istanbul’s museums including Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia, Yıldız Palace and for those in Anatolia, including Nevşehir, Konya, Gaziantep, İzmir, Antalya, Ankara, Mardin, Çanakkale, Samsun, Çorum, Erzurum, Hatay, Aksaray, Denizli, Aydın, Mersin and Trabzon.
Günay was referring to the ministry’s and government’s efforts to restore world-renowned communist poet Nazım Hikmet’s citizenship and to questions from press as to whether the government planned to initiate a similar move for Turkish film director and actor, Yılmaz Güney.
"We are ready to embrace every color Turkey has brought to life. There are very rare people like [Nazım] who contribute to the promotion of Turkey in the world. We demonstrated our country’s determination for democracy through the move. We will do the same on other issues as well. We will not refrain from doing anything to correct past moves considered to be unjust, disregarding [people’s] ideological tendencies," Günay said.
After escaping from prison in 1981, Güney settled in France and his Turkish citizenship was taken from him in 1983 when he resisted a return to Turkey. He was buried in France.
Günay was speaking at a press conference yesterday to promote the details of the ministry’s bidding process for managing commercial activities of ministry-run museums and historical places across the country.
Target to establish point of sales at 56 museums
Günay said their target was to increase the point of sales currently available at only nine museums and historical places to the total number of overall museums and historical places across Turkey, 56.
"This bidding process is thus of great importance. It is not a project that is solely aimed at increasing revenue, but increasing the quality of services and products provided at points of sales in our museums and at historical places," he said.
In 2008, some 22.6 million people visited museums and historical places, representing an increase of 26 percent compared to the previous year, but revenue from commercial activities remained considerably low despite the increase in visitor numbers, the ministry said. The ministry aims to both increase the revenue and promote the cultural capacity and potential of the museums through the bid.
The existing points of sales in museums and historical places will be renewed; new points of sales will be established; more quality products and services will be provided; the sale, production and consumption of traditional Turkish products, such as traditional handicrafts, Turkish delight, coffee and replicas of museum items, will be promoted through new products and designs as part of the project. It will also be possible to sell products over the Internet.
"The products will be marketed to a broader audience and there will be more employment opportunities," Günay said. "We want these locations to become more frequently visited places. We want to encourage people to visit museums and historical places instead of going to shopping malls."
Points of sales are planned for Istanbul’s museums including Topkapı Palace and Hagia Sophia, Yıldız Palace and for those in Anatolia, including Nevşehir, Konya, Gaziantep, İzmir, Antalya, Ankara, Mardin, Çanakkale, Samsun, Çorum, Erzurum, Hatay, Aksaray, Denizli, Aydın, Mersin and Trabzon.